I played a bunch of games at GDC a few weeks ago, but my absolute favorite was a whimsical, adorable game called Calico, which is about magical girls (think Sailor Moon) running a cat café.
You see, cats are great, and in this game not only do you run a cat café—hang out with cats, pick them up, snuggle them, put them on your head—you can also ride a giant cat, encounter a mystical space cat, and recruit a cat cult.
I don't know if the cats are actually in a cult, per se, but they were marching in a circle around a tree in the woods when I encountered them. When I picked one of them up, the rest started marching behind me in a line; my own little cat cult.
The build of Calico I played at GDC was still very early—some cats would clip through walls, some animations were a bit janky, and a lot of systems still needed building (the release is currently scheduled for 2020 or later). But what I played was fun and undeniably cute. I love simple, slice of life-type games like Stardew Valley and the upcoming Ooblets. Calico looks to hit that same target audience—the game's main task is to rebuild the town's cat café and fill it with cute and cuddly creatures. (Oh yeah, the game's not limited to cats. There's also dogs, raccoons, red pandas, and all sorts of other small furry friends.) But really Calico is just about spending time in this world, this town of magical girls, and hanging out with cats.
Calico launched a Kickstarter today to fund the remaining development. As of this writing it's more than halfway funded.
